Milk Fed Baby Lamb: Agnello Arrosto

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I do not know about other partsof the States, but here in Minnesota lamb is Not popular, to say the least (or is it list?). NOt sure why. I just love lamb.
 
CharlieD said:
I do not know about other partsof the States, but here in Minnesota lamb is Not popular, to say the least (or is it list?). NOt sure why. I just love lamb.

My bf has never tried lamb, and if I hadn't lived in Cali for a couple years I probably wouldn't have ever tried it myself. I love lamb too, and plan to make it for the bf some time. We are moving soon however, and need to use up the meat already in the freezer. No idea why lamb isn't popular in MN. Maybe because there aren't many lamb hotdish recipes? Lol
 
I do not know about other partsof the States, but here in Minnesota lamb is Not popular, to say the least (or is it list?). NOt sure why. I just love lamb.
I love it, too. I think it would be more popular if it were more widely available. The big grocery stores here are boring and only carry a limited selection of meats, with the majority of it being beef, pork, and chicken. Since that's what's available, that's what people eat.

I buy a half lamb every fall from a farm over in Wisconsin. I know there are places here in Minnesota that sell it also, but I've been buying from this guy for about 6 years now.
 
I do not know about other parts of the States, but here in Minnesota lamb is Not popular, to say the least (or is it list?). NOt sure why. I just love lamb.

MN is mostly a farming state. And being so far north, beef is the preferred meat. Folks think Texas when it comes to beef. They forget hat there are more cattle ranches in the far north than Texas. And they raise Black Angus. Hereford cattle have a different type of feed to graze on. There is not much grass in Texas cattle land. Go to MN and other states in the northern part of the country and the feed changes to grass.

Also cattle farmers are not fond of sheep farmers. The sheep tear the grass out of the land, cattle just chew on the top of it. The majority of our lamb meat is imported from NZ and Australia. But we are slowly learning how great lamb can be. BTW, I make a mean lamb stew with barley. :yum:
 
MN is mostly a farming state. And being so far north, beef is the preferred meat. Folks think Texas when it comes to beef. They forget hat there are more cattle ranches in the far north than Texas. And they raise Black Angus. Hereford cattle have a different type of feed to graze on. There is not much grass in Texas cattle land. Go to MN and other states in the northern part of the country and the feed changes to grass.

Also cattle farmers are not fond of sheep farmers. The sheep tear the grass out of the land, cattle just chew on the top of it. The majority of our lamb meat is imported from NZ and Australia. But we are slowly learning how great lamb can be. BTW, I make a mean lamb stew with barley. :yum:
Addie, I'm not sure where you are getting your statistics, but I don't believe we are even in the top ten states when it comes to beef production. Texas, Kansas, and Nebraska round out the top three, at least according to the USDA's web site. Texas is also number one in lamb.

Minnesota is number three when it comes to pork, though. ;)
 
About a month ago I bought half of a lamb, is 1 year old is still consider lamb?
Friend of mine sloghter 6. He was selling it. Kind of expensive, but it is nice and fresh. I wish I could do it more often, but dealing with kosher is pain in the neck (of a lamb, sorry) The rear end of the animal is not kosher and when I buy ine, I have to find some one to buy the rear end. That is always a problem.
 
CharlieD said:
About a month ago I bought half of a lamb, is 1 year old is still consider lamb?
Friend of mine sloghter 6. He was selling it. Kind of expensive, but it is nice and fresh. I wish I could do it more often, but dealing with kosher is pain in the neck (of a lamb, sorry) The rear end of the animal is not kosher and when I buy ine, I have to find some one to buy the rear end. That is always a problem.

I would by the rear end! Lol. Live anywhere near St. Cloud? Ha ha
 
About a month ago I bought half of a lamb, is 1 year old is still consider lamb?
Friend of mine sloghter 6. He was selling it. Kind of expensive, but it is nice and fresh. I wish I could do it more often, but dealing with kosher is pain in the neck (of a lamb, sorry) The rear end of the animal is not kosher and when I buy ine, I have to find some one to buy the rear end. That is always a problem.

So are is there one rear leg and some ribs. I would think someone would jump at the chance to have a nice fresh leg of lamb, if they are not kosher.

CharlieD, I am curious. I understand the kosher kitchen. So do you have just one kitchen or two. One is strictly kosher for the holidays. Where would you cut up the lamb to give the rear end to someone else. You can't contaminate the kosher kitchen by bringing in the rear end of the lamb to cut it off. And would you use your kosher knives to cut off the rear end knowing that one side of the knife will be next to the non kosher meat? I am familiar with a lot of the Jewish practices and traditions. I have been in homes that are strictly kosher every day. They have only one kitchen. And I have seen other homes that have two kitchens. One that is strictly kosher for the high holidays. :)
 
Addie said:
So are is there one rear leg and some ribs. I would think someone would jump at the chance to have a nice fresh leg of lamb, if they are not kosher.

CharlieD, I am curious. I understand the kosher kitchen. So do you have just one kitchen or two. One is strictly kosher for the holidays. Where would you cut up the lamb to give the rear end to someone else. You can't contaminate the kosher kitchen by bringing in the rear end of the lamb to cut it off. And would you use your kosher knives to cut off the rear end knowing that one side of the knife will be next to the non kosher meat? I am familiar with a lot of the Jewish practices and traditions. I have been in homes that are strictly kosher every day. They have only one kitchen. And I have seen other homes that have two kitchens. One that is strictly kosher for the high holidays. :)

I would guess the lamb is already butchered and packaged
 
... CharlieD, I am curious. I understand the kosher kitchen. ....

Well, as I mentioned before the laws of Kashrut are many and very complicated.
Yes, there are people who keep very strict kosher and somehow manage to have one kitchen. Honestly I do not know how. You try to boil a pot of meat soup and if bubbles over and spills on the next burner the burner becomes either meat or it becomes Not Kosher, big problem.

To answer your question, I have 3 kitchens: Meat, Dairy, in my main kitchen, and then I have a separate kitchen for Passover in the basement, which is really a bonus that saves me from cleaning my kitchen before Passover, which is doable but a really hard task. I simply close my kitchen and do everything in the Passover kitchen.
As far as lamb goes. It was butchered at the farm and they have meat saw that had to be koshered, basically very well cleaned and then cleaned with some boiling hot water and more soap. After animal is butchered it is not kosher yet so it is not a problem to cut it in the half or whatever way you wanted to cut using that saw. After that the meat is salted to draw the blood out and then rinsed and then soaked in the clean water. Only after that the meat is consider kosher. A side note, if the saw was not cleaned and was used to cut a kosher animal, the meat of that animal would be consider not kosher no matter what you try to do it.

P.S. I am surprised myself that not many people were running to buy the rear and of the lamb, as it is the best part
 
I love both lamb and veal, and when I first moved here, where both are raised (the tri-state area of NW IL/SW WI/East IA), it wasn't all that easy to get them. A man I know who raised lamb says most of what I buy locally is NZ. Begs the question, where does all the lamb I see around here go?
 
I would guess the lamb is already butchered and packaged

Not necessarily. If the lamb is for a high holiday, they bring the lamb to the table in one piece. The lamb plays a very important part of the Jewish religion. If you remember your Bible, it was the blood of the lamb that was painted over the doorways to protect the eldest boy of Jewish families during one one of the plagues. The lamb is brought to the table with flair. :chef:
 
Thank you Charlie. All my adult life I have been interested in different religious practices. When I was married to my first husband, I lived in a town that was mostly 95% Jewish. One year I was invited to a Seder Dinner at my downstairs neighbor's home. I just sat there with my hands in my lap afraid I would do something stupid or wrong. Fortunately I was seated next to someone who patiently guided me through the meal. What I do remember was once the initial practices were gone through, there was a lot of laughter at the table and sharing of stories.

Son #2 was born there and was delivered on Christmas day by a wonderful Jewish doctor in my home. No time to get to the hospital. I learned so much about the Jewish religion and the practices living in that town. Come five o'clock on Friday, you better have everything you needed. All stores were closed tight. You would have to go over the bridge to the next town if you wanted even a quart of milk. And all schools were closed not only for Christmas, but for the Jewish holidays. And the Easter/Spring break was planned to include the Jewish holiday.

The one thing I remember the most is how many elderly folks I met or saw that still had their tattoo on their arm. In the summer, they wore short sleeve shirts or tops and never tried to hide them.

In Boston, in downtown, there is a Memorial to the Holocaust. There are four very tall glass towers with the numbers of the thousands of victims engraved in the glass. As you walk through them you walk over a grate with glowing coals with wisps of smoke coming up from them. Each tower represents a different prison and the ovens are represented by the grates. The first time I walked through them, it was days before I could even bring myself to think about them. The second time, I didn't even make it through two of the towers. I kept thinking of all the folks I had known and met in that town where my son had been born. In spite of all they had been through, they never lost their faith. I doubt I would have had just one nth of the courage they had.

When the "old man" of the family I had shared Seder with died, I had the opportunity to learn again some of the practices of the Jewish faith. I made it a point to be standing outside when they slowly drove by his home on the way to burial. I too needed to say my goodbye.

Thank you Charlie for allowing me to evoke some fond memories. :innocent:
 
Orzo Lamb Casserole

STEP ONE:

- 500 grams ( 1 lb ) lamb, cut in pieces preferably with bone

- 1 cup of fresh milk

put the meat in a pot add the milk and add water to cover the lamb. Simmer it on low hit for one hour. This makes the lamb meat not to have its strong characteristic aroma.

in the meantime prepare the rest of the ingredients :

- Put one can of plum tomatoes or 2 large tomatoes from your garden and one large onion in the processor and mix them.

- two teaspoons salt.

- 1/2 teaspoon sweet red paprika.

- one teaspoon sugar.

- 1/2 cup red wine.

- 1/2 cup olive oil.

- 1 clove garlic ( optional ).

- half teaspoon oregano, thyme and rosemary fresh or dried.

- one and a half cup of orzo pasta.

STEP TWO:

Take the meat out of the milk, rinse it with cold water, dry it with kitchen paper. Take a large pan with heavy bottom, put the olive oil inside and when it is hot enough add the peaces of meat inside. Fry the lamb shortly, turn it on all sides so it makes a crust that is going to keep the juices inside. Then add the wine. Simmer until it evaporates then pour the tomato and the onion from the processor. Add, salt, sugar,paprika the herbs, add 3 cups of water. Cover the pan and boil for another hour.

STEP THREE:

Uncover the pan. Stir well with a spoon, add the the orzo pasta and cook for another 20 minutes with the pan covered.

STEP FOUR:

Your dish is ready and warm. Serve it on a plate. Add grated yellow cheese on the top and ENJOY!
 
Thanks for all the extraordinairely interesting posts on this original thread on my Roast Lamb. A wealth of information. Furthermore, it is always a pleasure to have Soulvaki post a Greek regional recipe too.

Have a nice wkend.
Margi.
 
Souvlaki, you wrote, "- Put one can of plum tomatoes or 2 large tomatoes from your garden and one large onion in the processor and mix them."

How many ounces or ml in one of your cans of tomatoes? In Denmark the cans usually hold 400 ml, in North America the cans usually hold 28 US fluid ounces =~828 ml.
 
Souvlaki, you wrote, "- Put one can of plum tomatoes or 2 large tomatoes from your garden and one large onion in the processor and mix them."

How many ounces or ml in one of your cans of tomatoes? In Denmark the cans usually hold 400 ml, in North America the cans usually hold 28 US fluid ounces =~828 ml.

400 gr i just checked
 
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this is how it looks
 
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